Who will be Rana Kapoor successor? Yes Bank to name new CEO today? Stock gives 21% return in just 4 days; if you've invested, then you are rich

Indian markets have been extremely volatile in recent days with the Sensex losing the 35,000-mark recently and then today earmarking the 36,000-level, yet through all the ups and downs there was one stock that stood like a rock and did not lose its shine! Considering all the troubles it is going through, this was a massive surprise for all! In fact, when there was extreme bear market on Tuesday and first half of Wednesday due to assembly elections setbacks for the BJP, but mostly because of Urjit Patel’s exit from RBI governor post, yet this stock continued to be the top pick of investors.

Surely, much to your surprise, this stock is none other than Yes Bank! The beleaguered lender's shares have been the best bet for investors since the start of this week’s trading session on Dalal Street! Yes Bank vaulted over its own losses, in the wake of its chief Rana Kapoor being given his marching orders by RBI and, make no mistake, it was virtual chaos that prevailed when it came to trading in this bank at that moment in time as markets reacted in knee-jerk manner to the send-off of the co-founder. But somehow, there is no stopping Yes Bank shares now, as investors continue to buy this bank in heavy amounts.

Now, simply put, there is some good news knocking on the doors of Yes Bank, something that investors have been rooting for since the time the bank’s man-in-command Rana Kapoor was given an exit deadline of January end, 2019. 

Today, the share price of Yes Bank has risen for the fourth consecutive day. The bank was trading at Rs 191.45 per piece above Rs 4.65 or 2.49% on Sensex at around 0937 hours. It needs to be noted that the bank has risen by nearly 4% as it has cracked an intraday high of Rs 194.30 per piece in just a few minutes of opening session. 

Significantly, the investors who are already invested in this bank have turned rich in massive amounts. Why? Because Yes Bank has risen by nearly 21% in just 4 days' time. It was at around Rs 161.10 per piece on December 10 which was opening day of this week’s trading session on Monday. 

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So what made Yes Bank shares rise, making so many investors so much more richer?

Firstly, let's remember the days when Yes Bank announced that RBI has refused to extend Rana Kapoor's tenure despite the bank's entreaties. In fact, the central bank asked Kapoor to make sure he exits by the end of January, 2019. This news hit the headlines in second week of September 2018. 

Even as Yes Bank was left shattered by the news, even investors could not believe it. Each coming day, investors panic and doubt increased as to what will happen at Yes Bank without its charismatic leader who had built it up from scratch along with late co-founder Ashok Kapur. Kapur had been killed in the Mumbai terror attack in the Oberoi-Trident hotel in November, 2008. Kapur was the chairman of Yes Bank then.

Emotions of investors were evident in the form of Yes Bank shares plunging - it even gave away its over Rs 400-level, and nosedived so much that it reached the Rs 200 per piece mark. 

Notably, Yes Bank had touched an intraday high of Rs 404 per piece on August 20, 2018, and within one month's time, it was trading below Rs 200-mark! 

When Yes Bank management started to crumble - one-by-one - things went from bad to worse! When non-executive chairman Ashok Chawla and Rentala Chandrashekhar, Independent Director tendered their resignations from the Bank's Board last month, Yes Bank’s shares fell of the cliff. Hence, it touched an intraday low of Rs 147 per piece on November 29, 2018.

Thereby, Yes Bank shares dropped by nearly 64% between the period August to November end. 

But in December, 2018, a new day dawned for Yes Bank, so to speak. Yes Bank shares did a massive U-turn, and since then they have been rising continuously. Now, they are the top pick of investors compared to other banks.

So what is boosting this bank?

Yes Bank first restored faith by appointing former IRDAI chief T.S. Vijayan as an independent director for five years. This was a first step in cementing a strong management at the lender, especially as Vijayan was already in the search committee to find a successor of Kapoor. 

Coming to today, it is a very special day as Yes Bank as it will give three names that have been shortlisted after recommendations by the search  committee to RBI.

Yes Bank last month had announced that on December 13, the board of directors will give  names for new chairman to be approved by the RBI as well as consider appointment of independent directors. 

Hence, one can expect a new CEO of Yes Bank being picked from these three names. 

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There have already been headlines that mentioned a few names of who may be appointed as Kapoor’s successor. Earlier, some 10 names hit the headlines, however, among them, 5 were already known. However, subsequently, a few names were removed. 

Right now, as far as speculation is concerned, P. S. Jayakumar - Managing Director & CEO - Bank of Baroda may bag the position in Yes Bank. Interestingly, Jayakumar’s tenure had been increased by another one year due to BOB’s merger with Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank. 

Then second name that acquired immense buzz around it was Zarin Daruwala, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank. However, she has denied the rumours. 

Another name was V Srinivasan Deputy MD Axis Bank whose term is going to end by December 2018. One can expect Srinivasan’s name in the list of Yes Bank today. 

Apart from the above three, two Senior Group President Rajat Monga and Pralay Mondal may also have been shortlisted. 

Also, analysts at Citi Research in their report said, “ We are not sure at this stage if both the promoter groups are agreeable to elevation of Monga and Mondal. We believe that considering their proposed elevation, these two could be the potential internal candidates for succeeding Kapoor.”

However, Monga’s appointment as CEO looks like a lost ship already. Earlier a Macquarie research report said, Rajat has been with the bank since inception, also acting as its CFO when the alleged ‘incorrect accounting’ was done, the RBI may not be willing to grant him a board seat either. 

One can also expect a non-bank candidate as well. Recently-appointed CEOs mostly come from outside of the banking sector, although they do have financial backgrounds. 
Axis Bank’s Amitabh Chaudhry was previously the chief executive of HDFC Standard Life Insurance - one of the leading and most profitable players in its sector. 
ICICI Bank chairman Sandeep Bakhshi has been with ICICI Group for 32 years, but was mostly at ICICI Limited or the organisation’s insurance subsidiaries; his last role was CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.

What must new Yes Bank chief do?

CLSA revealed what the top priorities of the new man in charge should be. It said, “The new CEOs will need to demonstrate their ability to run much larger and more diverse organisations versus the businesses they previously managed. We believe that banks with decentralized operations, higher share of retail business, lower attrition rates at the mid-management level and consistent employee stock ownership plans (Esops) will be better placed to oversee a leadership transition.”
  
Well, who will be new Yes Bank CEO is being keenly watched. As far as investors are concerned, they are happy with the thought a CEO will be selected by RBI soon to take over from Rana Kapoor. Also, one should note, over the past few months, exits of MD & CEO from private lenders like Axis Bank and ICICI Bank has been taken positively. Considering Kapoor's tenure extension was not accepted due to divergences in Yes Bank NPAs, investors are eyeing a candidate who can look into these matters in line with RBI's needs, which mostly are all about transparency in business.